4 Consider your demographic. Although keywords are always prioritized in paid search ads, you can add demographic infor- mation to narrow the number of searchers who may see your ad. Choose from general demographics such as location, age, gender, and household in- come. You also can add detailed demographics that home in on marital status, parent status, and more. 5 Continually monitor and optimize your ads. Digital ads are never permanent. Unlike print media, you can always update them. If something doesn’t work, you can change it or pause it tempo- rarily. Or, you can end the cam- paign altogether. Paid search ads also let you try various options until you find something that works best for you. NOT SEEING SUCCESS? If you have little experience with optimizing digital ads, you may be slow to see results from your paid search ads. But there’s hope. Google’s machine learning can help you improve your metrics, and so can expert digital marketing agencies that understand the nuances of paid search ads. Look for one with property management companies and real estate case studies already in their portfolio.•
Paid search ads are an effective digital marketing tactic because they show up only when a user searches for relevant terms, which you choose. You are charged for paid search ads only when someone clicks on an ad, making it a cost-effective strategy for property owners looking for tenants. When you set up your campaign, you’ll bid on keywords, so you can ensure you’re comfortable paying a set amount per click. Keep in mind that keywords with more competition tend to cost more per click than less popular ones. FOCUS ON CONVERSIONS WITH SMART BIDDING To fill vacancies in your rental properties, choosing the right ad type makes all the difference. Because you want potential tenants to take an action on your site (e.g., request a tour or fill out an application), turn on “conversion tracking” and focus on conversions using the Smart Bidding tool on Google. Smart Bidding is a set of automated strategies that use machine learning to optimize for conversions, but you’ll still need to manually choose a Smart Bidding strategy. In Google Ads, these are: T arget Cost Per Action (CPA), which increases conversions while targeting a specific CPA. Target Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), which optimizes for conversion value while targeting a specific ROAS. Maximize Conversions, which spends your entire chosen budget by continually optimizing for conversions. Maximum Conversion Value, which optimizes for conversion
value and spends your entire chosen budget. Enhanced Cost Per Click (ECPC), which automatically adjusts your manual bids to maximize conversions.
CREATING THE PERFECT PAID SEARCH AD
Effective paid search ads require a level of expertise to ensure they’ll work for you. Consider these five tips when setting up your campaign in Google. 1 Consider what your competitors are doing. They also will be bidding on the same keywords as you are, which can steal your traffic. 2 Choose both long-tail keywords and branded keywords. Long-tail keywords are multiple words that are long and relevant to your ad (e.g., “luxury apartments for rent in Miami”). Branded keywords, however, include the name of your business. If you don’t bid on your branded keywords, your competitors will. 3 Don’t forget negative keywords. Narrow when your paid search ad appears by entering negative keywords—those for which you don’t want your ads to appear. Negative keywords are similar to the ones you want to target but are inaccurate for your rental unit. For example, you may want to bid on the keyword “apartments in Springfield,” but you might want to use negative keywords like “apartments in Springfield, Illinois” if your Springfield is one of many others around the U.S. not in Illinois.
Jenifer Calandra’s decade of marketing experience in a range of industries gives her a unique perspective on strategy. A professional writer, Calandra crafts
brand stories in her role at iFocus Marketing to help engagement with a brand’s target audience. Learn more at ifocusmarketing.com.
thinkrealty . com | 83
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter